Zero-dimensional organic exciton-polaritons in tunable coupled Gaussian defect microcavities at room temperature

TL;DR

This paper reports the creation of zero-dimensional organic exciton-polaritons at room temperature using tunable microcavities with Gaussian defects, enabling strong light-matter interaction and potential for quantum simulation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel platform with tunable coupled Gaussian defect microcavities for room-temperature polariton manipulation and quantum simulation.

Findings

Achieved strong light-matter coupling with 2g = 166 meV.

Created polaritonic molecules with tunnel coupling up to 50 meV.

Demonstrated tunable potential landscapes beyond thermal energy.

Abstract

We demonstrate strong light-matter interaction at ambient conditions between a ladder-type conjugated polymer and the individual modes of a vertical microcavity with tunable resonance frequencies. Zero-dimensional wavelength-scale confinement for the polaritons is achieved through a sub-micron sized Gaussian defect, resulting in a vacuum Rabi splitting of the polariton branches of 2g = 166 meV. By placing a second Gaussian defect nearby, we create a polaritonic molecule with tunnel coupling strength of up to 2J ~ 50 meV. This platform enables the creation of tailor-made potential landscapes with wavelength-scale dimensions and tunable coupling strengths beyond the thermal energy, opening a route towards room-temperature polariton-based quantum simulators.